Triathlon 2011

I am going to do a triathlon on 28th August (was meant to be 11th June but that one sold out before I could sign up!) and thought it might be cool to get to know others who are also training for a tri!

My main sport is running I think. I did a half marathon last week and am doing a 5k race in May and have been running on a regular basis for about two years. Swimming is also OK, I was on the swim team in high school so technique is no problem, fitness will be though! I haven't been swimming at all in the last year. Cycling, hmmm. I cycle as my main form of transport, so an hour a day to and from work and to the shops etc but I have never tried to go fast...

My ultra fit boyfriend is going the triathlon with me, and his even fitter brother is doing the one in June so I have to perform well otherwise I'll be the only one who didn't!

Feel free to join in if you are also training for a tri, we can all help each other. I have absolutely no idea how to train for one at all...

Yeah it sounds like you had a great time!! I still haven't registered for the 28th August tri, although I am training for it. I have an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon on Wednesday to discuss possible foot surgery so I need to find out the date for that before I register.

Even if I don't end up racing this year (although I hope so!), it has been great to get back into swimming! I haven't swam regularly for 10 years but at the moment I'm going 2-3 times a week. How did you train the swimming bit, if you don't mind me asking? My distance is 750m so I've just been swimming that for a start. I'm too out of swim shape to manage 750m straight crawl at the moment, but I can manage 50m crawl + 25min breaststroke x 10 in 22 minutes. I've got ages to get that better though! If the doc decides to operate, that is the only sport I'll be able to do for a few months ( God knows what will happen to my waistline then, I control my weight basically by exercise and a half hearted diet...

I am registered for an all-women Tri on Sept. 11th. At this point, I am really excited, but I know as the time gets closer - I will be NERVOUS! Lol!

Right now I am struggling to get in all my work outs. I signed up for a Spin class at the gym. That has been awesome. I would like to get in an outdoor bike ride in addition to taht once a week. I have been running 2 - 3 times a week. I have at least been doing good with that.

Swimming... wweeelllll... I need to get in more swimming. I am not really worried about the swimming. I have been swimming all my life. BUT I do still need to get in the water and practice!

__________________

"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forrest"

Little Goals:
- Sprint Triathlon: 9/11/2011
- Half Marathon: 9/18/2011
- Weigh under 210: GOAL!!! As of 7/16/2010
- Next goal: Get BACK to under 210

claire, hope the surgery stuff ends up okay...I was out of commission all last fall with surgeries, so I really sympathize.

sCraver, congratulations! It is great to have a tri to work toward. For what it's worth...I had been swimming all my life too, and have improved immeasurably over the last four months with some help.

I started swimming on my own, but eventually joined a Masters swim group to get a little coaching and a more regular swim time. It was an EXCELLENT decision- see below.

Polar Bear Pink Cheeks Triathlon race report:

Swim: 900 YD, 16:50 (1:50/100 yards) -- This was nothing short of miraculous. I swam a single warmup lap, then did my thing. Didn't feel like I ever really got started and then I was done, and 1:30 faster than I've ever done it before. I didn't think I'd be below 2:00/100 for a while yet. I thought the timer had made a mistake. Another woman in my swim group is an amazing runner/cyclist/athlete -- she beat me by many minutes in bike/run!!! Her overall time was 16 minutes better than mine and she was 13th overall -- and I beat her swim time by two full minutes.

Bike: 29:18 for 6 miles. Normally that would have been about 23-24 mins for 6 miles, so I thought it was slow. However, this was the most what I didn't expect. The course was about half gravel (serious Alaska-type gravel), lots of 90-degree turns, and very hilly. One of those hills went on forever, I swear. I was on my Cannondale F700 mountain bike (much slower than my road bike). Felt pretty good, no problems there. Need more hill work on bike and run, there's no doubt about that. I didn't die but eventually will want to do better.

Run: 31:51 5k (3.1 miles). Personal best for a 5K. Very, very hilly course. First mile was downhill, last mile was uphill. Mile times were 9:24; second was 10:09; third was 11:19 (that last, uphill mile). It was way hard, by far the hardest part of the race. Normally I run an 11 minute mile.

Race was swim, run, bike. T2 was transition from run to bike and was 43S.There was no T1 as my swim time was WAY before bike time. Like, 8:20 AM and the main race started at 11 AM. They worry about it being too cold in early may to go straight from the water to a cold outside, I understand.

That said, it was a gorgeous day, just beautiful and warm. Eagles riding thermals over the starting line for a good while.

I thought I finished somewhere in the middle of the back half of the pack, but it turns out I was 45/90 for the women and 22/37 in my age group. Goals #1 (finish) and #2 (don't finish last) were well met.

I haven't been doing much swimming. I have been doing ok with biking - but I need to do more outside biking. I HAVE been running. I feel like running will be the hardest part. I know that the bike portion is longest (in miles and time) but then to get off the bike and run 3.1 miles... I feel like the better I am at running, the easier it will be to do it when I am tired.

IDK... just rambling. I need to go for a bike ride.

__________________

"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forrest"

Little Goals:
- Sprint Triathlon: 9/11/2011
- Half Marathon: 9/18/2011
- Weigh under 210: GOAL!!! As of 7/16/2010
- Next goal: Get BACK to under 210

I'm considering finding a 5k or tri or something... I know that for my last 5k... I had something to work up to. It ended up being more like a .5k (long story)... but I worked hard to get there. Afterwards... I had shin splints... and that messed me up... and then I didn't do any of it anymore.

I'll have to see if there's anything that's going to be happening in/around Dallas, TX... or in the town I'll be living in at college... I'll see.

I'm still here! Ran 3.55 miles this morning and have a brick (18 miles bike, 4.5 mile run) scheduled for tomorrow. Next triathlon is next Sunday, June 12...starting to feel the nerves a little bit already! Need to find some time to go over the course this weekend since this one is local.

Also, I signed up for one on July 17 in Fairbanks - it has an open water swim, so that should be interesting. I still haven't seen entry open up for the Oly I am hoping to do in August but I'm training for it anyway.

Glad to see you're still here...hope this thread stays a bit more active.

SCraver, I just realized that I see you over on BT, too...no wonder you looked so familiar...

It's raining today - I'm going to see if the weather improves a bit before I try working out. If it continues nasty I'll do the bike ride inside and then go out to run. Humbug.

LoL! Yup! I have been hanging out there more than here lately. All this exercising is actually making it harder to lose weight (I get so hungry!!) but I feel great!

It was a glorious weekend. I ran Satruday morning for a couple miles with my sister. Today, instead of going to the gym, I have to go to the Dr. I have some sort of poison ivy type thing going on that NEEDS to be looked at. ~sigh~ So, I THINK I can get home, throw my toddler in his jogging stroller and go for a run.

I should be able to get in a swim tomorrow. Run Wednesday. Spin class on Thursday. I guess another run on Friday.

I ordered a stability ball. I want to work a bit harder on my core. After I did my 10k the other weekend, my ABS were sore!!!

__________________

"I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forrest"

Little Goals:
- Sprint Triathlon: 9/11/2011
- Half Marathon: 9/18/2011
- Weigh under 210: GOAL!!! As of 7/16/2010
- Next goal: Get BACK to under 210

Hi Guys! I am pretty new to 3fc and so I just found this post! I tri! I did my first Sprint distance tri( 300 yrd swim, 15 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) at the end of March and I loved it so much that I signed up for two more. I will be doing another Sprint distance at the beginning of August and then an Olympic distance at the end of September. I start training twice a day for 16 weeks next week for my Olympic. I am a little nervous about that one simply for the distance of the run...6.2 miles. With ample training I am pretty sure I can do it though. I am glad to have found friends that enjoy the same thing! Awesome!

Welcome, ballerina. It's good to find another person with whom to tri!

scraver, I spend way more time on BT than I do here these days as well. I like it there- it's way friendly to Athenas and newbies and all age ranges. I really like that!

Wish me luck, ladies...my next race is this weekend, on Sunday. I perused the bike course today - it's about 2/3 flat, but the third that isn't is WAY downhill, SERIOUS uphill, rough, and some twisty turns. I do some riding on hills and have gotten up over 30 mph from time to time...but that downhill scares me. And that uphill will be brutal, I think. It goes on forever.

The run course is dirt, and I'll probably run it tomorrow just to go through it once before the race. The run course is a cross-country ski course and as such will probably have swales but no serious hills like the road course. It's nice to have a local event.